While working with a client the other day I suddenly (and painfully) became aware that I had not heard what they just said. I did some self examination to find out why and discovered a fatal flaw in my thinking.
Having become a therapist while working in a mental health clinic I was trained in the medical model. While talking to the client I was listening in an attempt to diagnose - as I was trained to do. However, now in my private practice I no longer worked with the DSM or paperwork which required a diagnosis. I suddenly realized that I no longer needed to diagnose. I was free to simply listen to what the client was trying to communicate to me and to try to understand what they were trying to convey without limitations. This realization was so liberating! I could really listen. I didn't have to follow a certain path, eliminate certain possibilities, categorize my thinking in a certain way. I could simply listen. I never realized what a burden the need to diagnose was until I worked without it and was simply there with the client. I also never realized how much this narrowed my assessment of what was going on. Without the limitations of the DSM IV and diagnosis I could leave the interpretation of what was happening and its causality totally up to the client. How empowering - for both of us. If only therapy could always be like this.
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